Archives for October 23, 2017

Green Creative Sold to Harbour Group

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Fulton Capital and Merit Capital Partners have sold Green Creative, a developer and manufacturer of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, to the Harbour Group. Fulton and Merit acquired the company in partnership with the company’s founders in December 2015.

Green Creative products are sold to the commercial, industrial, and specification markets (the specification market is composed of interior designers and architects that specify the use of a particular product on building projects). Many of Green Creative’s customers are commercial retailers and hospitality chains. Green Creative is headquartered and manages product sales and distribution through its offices in South San Francisco and oversees research & development, sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and marketing of the company products from its facilities in Hong Kong and Shanghai (www.gc-lighting.com). The company was founded in 2010 by Cole Zucker and Guillaume Vidal.

In April 2017, Harbour Group acquired ILP (Industrial Lighting Products) from Pfingsten Partners. ILP is a manufacturer of a variety of high efficiency LED, fluorescent, and induction commercial lighting fixtures used in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, offices, schools and parking lots throughout the country. Products include high bay, wet location, stairwell, and outdoor fixtures, as well as retrofit kits. ILP has more than 180 employees and produces more than 20,000 fixtures per month. The company has a 75,000 square foot manufacturing and headquarters facility in Sanford, FL (north of Orlando) and a 15,000 square foot facility in Reno, NV (www.ilp-inc.com).

Green Creative and ILP will remain as separate portfolio companies within Harbour Group and Cole Zucker and Guillaume Vidal, the co-founders of Green Creative, will continue their leadership roles in the business. “The two brands will remain independent and constitute the foundation for Harbour Group’s foray into the lighting industry,” said Jeff Fox, Harbour Group’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As sister companies, Green Creative and ILP bring an industry-leading team and product offering to the market.”

“Under the same group, the companies have highly complementary offerings with minimum overlap,” said Jason Hendren, the founder of ILP. “Combining Green Creative’s lamp, commercial and residential downlight, and track products with ILP’s industrial, commercial, and outdoor products allows our channel partners to complete an entire project with a unique product mix.”

Harbour Group invests in North American-based companies with valuations from $30 million to $500 million. Areas of interest include product-oriented businesses that are generally either a provider of proprietary products or are a niche, value-added distributor. Since its founding in 1976, Harbour Group has acquired 196 companies in 41 different industries. The firm is based in St. Louis (www.harbourgroup.com).

Green Creative was Fulton Capital’s fifth specialty distribution platform and its third investment in the lighting industry.

Fulton Capital invests in small and mid-sized companies with revenues between $20 million and $100 million and EBITDA between $2 million and $10 million. Transaction values range from $10 million to $70 million. Sectors of interest include niche manufacturing, logistics, distribution, and service businesses. Fulton Capital is led by its founders Phillip Gerber and David Schlossberg and is headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook (www.fulton-capital.com).

Merit Capital Partners invests mezzanine and equity capital of $15 million to $60 million in companies with at least $5 million of EBITDA that are active in the manufacturing, distribution and services industries. Merit was founded in 1993 and is based in Chicago (www.meritcapital.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 23, 2017

American Securities Exits Royal Adhesives

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American Securities has completed the sale of Royal Adhesives & Sealants to publicly-traded H.B. Fuller Company for approximately $1.6 billion. Royal has been a portfolio company of American Securities since June 2015 when the company was acquired from Arsenal Capital Partners.

Royal Adhesives & Sealants is a producer of proprietary, high-performance adhesives and sealants and other formulated products that are used in aerospace and defense, construction, specialty packaging, automotive and industrial applications. The company, led by President and CEO Ted Clark, is headquartered in South Bend, IN (www.royaladhesives.com).

H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL) is a manufacturer of adhesives, sealants, and other specialty chemical products that are used in electronics, disposable hygiene, medical, transportation, aerospace, clean energy, packaging, construction, woodworking, general industries and other consumer applications. The company has annual revenues of approximately $2.1 billion and is headquartered near Minneapolis in Vadnais Heights, MN (www.hbfuller.com).

“We are pleased to have supported Ted and the entire Royal management team to drive organic growth through new business wins and growth through accretive acquisitions during our partnership with the company,” said Scott Wolff, a Managing Director of American Securities.

American Securities invests in businesses with $200 million to $2 billion of revenue and $50 million to $300 million of EBITDA.  Sectors of interest include industrial manufacturing, specialty chemicals, aerospace and defense, energy, business services, healthcare, media, restaurants, and consumer products. The firm has more than $15 billion of capital under management and has offices in New York and Shanghai (www.american-securities.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 23, 2017

Quad-C Acquires AIT Worldwide

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Quad-C Management has made an investment in AIT Worldwide Logistics, a provider of air and sea freight, ground distribution, warehouse management and other supply chain services. Quad-C is partnering with AIT’s executive management team, who are maintaining significant ownership in the company.

AIT Worldwide has approximately 1,000 employees and is headquartered near Chicago in Itasca, IL with major international offices in Amsterdam and Hong Kong and an additional 50 offices worldwide (www.aitworldwide.com).

“We are thrilled to join forces with a firm that has such a high level of respect for our core values,” said Vaughn Moore, President and CEO, AIT Worldwide. “After a deliberate process, we selected Quad-C because they aligned well with both our culture and our strategic growth plan. They clearly appreciate our strong corporate identity, and they support our vision to become the global logistics provider respected for delivering a world-class experience.”

Quad-C invests from $35 million to $125 million of equity in companies with enterprise values of $75 million to $400 million. Sectors of interest include business services, consumer, general industrial, healthcare, specialty distribution and transportation and logistics. In March 2017, Quad-C closed its latest fund, Quad-C Partners IX LP, at an oversubscribed $1.1 billion. The final close was above the target of $800 million and was at the hard cap. Quad-C is headquartered in Charlottesville, VA (www.quadcmanagement.com).

“Over the past 35 years, AIT has developed a sterling reputation in transportation and logistics, a core area of specialization at Quad-C,” said Tom Hickey, a Partner at Quad-C. “The company’s ability to deliver supply chain efficiencies across nearly every industry represents a compelling value proposition for its global client base, and AIT’s management team has a proven track record of driving profitable growth. We are excited to assist AIT and support the company’s next stage of expansion.”

Other investments in the transportation and logistics sector for Quad-C include: A. Stucki Company (acquired in 2010 and exited in 2015), a supplier of new and reconditioned railcar components; NGL (acquired in 2012), a non-asset based third-party logistics company providing Next Flight Out, warehousing and distribution, service parts logistics, transportation management and ground courier services; and Worldwide Express (acquired in 2013 and exited in 2017), a franchisor with 100 independently owned franchise offices across the US, serving small-to-medium-sized businesses by providing various asset-light logistics services.

“AIT represents a solid addition to our transportation and logistics vertical,” said Michael Brooks, a Principal at Quad-C. “AIT has expanded organically in Canada, China, Europe, Mexico and Vietnam and we look forward to helping the company further achieve its worldwide growth objectives.”

Harris Williams & Co. was the financial advisor to AIT on this transaction. The transaction was led by Jason Bass, Frank Mountcastle, Jeff Burkett and Jonathan Meredith of Harris Williams & Co.’s Transportation & Logistics Group.

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 23, 2017

Revelstoke Gets New Managing Director

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Revelstoke Capital Partners has expanded its senior investment team with the addition of Eric Shuey as Managing Director. Mr. Shuey will be responsible for new investment sourcing, transaction execution and portfolio management.

“We are very excited to have Eric join Revelstoke as a Managing Director. He has the rare blend of a strong track record in both direct investing and successfully managing and operating businesses. We look forward to him delivering that expertise and judgment to our existing and future portfolio of companies,” said Simon Bachleda, Managing Partner at Revelstoke.

Mr. Shuey has more than 25 years of private equity investing, corporate finance and executive management experience in the healthcare industry. He previously served as a senior executive at Fresenius Medical Care where he was involved with several strategic initiatives including $1.5 billion of corporate investments and acquisitions.  Prior to Fresenius, Mr. Shuey was a member of the senior management team of Liberty Dialysis (a Bain Capital portfolio company) which grew Liberty from a $10 million revenue business into the third largest national provider of dialysis services with over $1 billion of revenue and operating more than 260 clinics in 32 states. Liberty was sold to Fresenius Medical Care in early 2012 for over $2.3 billion. Earlier in his career, Mr. Shuey served as a Director at DB Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Deutsche Bank responsible for over $10 billion in assets, and a Principal at Aurora Capital Group, a $1 billion private equity firm. Mr. Shuey started his investment banking career as an associate in DLJ’s Los Angeles office.

“I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with and invest alongside Eric across numerous companies over the last decade, and I look forward to working closely with him to build value in our existing portfolio companies and identify new and exciting investment opportunities,” said Russell Cassella, a Managing Partner at Revelstoke.

Mr. Shuey has an MBA from the Wharton School of Business. In addition, he has completed the coursework for a PhD in Management at the Wharton School and earned his BA from California State University Fullerton.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join Revelstoke Capital Partners. Revelstoke has established itself as a leading healthcare and business services private equity firm, and I am looking forward to being a key contributor to the firm’s future growth,” said Mr. Shuey.

Revelstoke invests from $10 million to $250 million in companies that have at least $5 million of EBITDA.  Sectors of interest include healthcare services and products; transportation and logistics; specialty distribution; energy and energy services; building products; business and outsourced services; marketing services; financial services; industrial services; and medical technology. Revelstoke has $1 billion of assets under management, and since the firm’s inception in mid-2013, has completed 34 acquisitions, which includes 9 platform companies and 25 add-on acquisitions. The firm is headquartered in Denver (www.revelstokecp.com).

© 2017 Private Equity Professional | October 23, 2017